<p>I've been admitted to both the University of Southern California and Stony Brook University for the fall of 2010 (I live in NYC). I want to be a doctor and understand that a high GPA and mcats are pivotal in order to get accepted into med school, but what I was wondering was whether or not it matters where to go for undergrad and also whether or not I should choose USC (which will cost me in the upper 50,000) or Stony Brook (which would cost roughly 20,000). </p>
<p>I'm perfectly fine with the location of USC, but I wanted to know if it's worth it for an aspiring doctor to be paying 50K a yr. for undergrad. Basically, should I go to USC or Stony Brook? </p>
<p>The expensiveness/prestige of the undergrad is fairly unimportant. I can’t say for a fact that it doesn’t matter at all, but it would be impossible to say that going to a slightly more prestigious undergrad will improve your chances so much that it’s worth the extra $120,000.</p>
<p>You are the one to decide, you are the only one who is aware of your family finances. Some people have unlimited resources, which means $$ is irrelevant. For most others, people are either hooked to the name/prestige or they do not care and go to the cheapest/free, because financing of Med. School is a burden on family, so they better be loan free before. If you get perfect UG GPA and high MCAT, Med. School would not worry about name of your UG. Resources and opportunities for pre-meds are awesome everywhere you go, just have open mind, seek out, try hard, the goodies start falling from the sky, you might be pleasantly surpised.</p>
<p>If paying $50k per year for USC means taking on debt, then Stony is the better choice since med school requires a lot of debt. So, if you’re borrowing a lot for USC, then go to Stony.</p>
<p>If your parents will pay for USC and med school then go to USC.</p>
<p>If your parents will only help with med school IF you go to a cheaper undergrad, then go to Stony.</p>
<p>What is your financial situation? How would USC get paid?</p>
<p>My family does have the financial capability of paying for either university, however USC would make much more of an impact on the family. We’d be able to pay them in full, but we’d have no savings. </p>
<p>At USC the classes are smaller, teachers are probably better, and attaining rec’s are probably easier due to the higher probability of student to teacher interaction.
I’m not a excellent science student so apart from studying a lot on my own, I could use help/an enivornment that would aid me in achieving my goal to get into med school.</p>
<p>As far as the academic standpoint, for example the quality of the education, teachers, students, etc…do you think it would make that much of a difference? I will study immensly on my own, but I need a strong environment where I can excel. The teachers and aids that are available at a school means a lot because I wasn’t the best science student in high school and need all the help I can get to compensate for the last four years</p>
I would strongly disagree with this. Is there some ranking system that puts USC higher than SBU? Not saying that I put any values into the rankings at all, but USWNR puts SBU above USC – so there must be some sort of perception/rep that I’m not aware of for USC that even makes this a tough decision. IMO, SBU >>>>>>>> USC in terms of academics. The fact that it’s also A LOT less expensive would have made it a sure deal in my books. I would say that 50k a year might be worth it if you’re talking about Ivies/upper tiers, but you are comparing two schools that for all intents and purposes are equally (if SBU isn’t >> USC) ranked, so I’m not quite sure why you would pay 30k more - especially if finances are a heavy weighting factor on your decision.</p>
<p>I would 100% go to SBU - I volunteer at the hospital, and it is SO nice. I’m sure as a student there you would be able to have tons of opportunities working there/shadowing/vollying/w.e. From this post it sounds like you think you can be the big fish at SBU - so do it.</p>
<p>According to USWNR, USC is 26th best and Stony Brook is ranked 96th. I agree that rankings shouldn’t be valued, but that’s one statistic that works in USC’s favor.
I am primarily concerned about the opportunities that each of those two schools could offer me, specifically which school would more easily lead me to a better path into getting into med school. I heard that at Stony Brook there is very little student to teacher interaction due to the fact that the class sizes are so big.
The bottom line is that I will study a lot on my own. I just need the best possible scenario to help me to get to my goal. I love USC, but I just don’t know if it is financially worth it to go 3000 miles away/pay that tuition, for something that I could receive for much cheaper/close to my home.</p>
<p>Well, this is coming from a guy who is currently an undergraduate in college. However, my uncle is a dermatologist who went to oxford for his UG and is currently running a very lucrative practice in toronto. He warned me not to take the full ride to Vanderbilt that I had when I had the opportunity to attend Yale or Penn. Ya, he said, I may go 20k in debt for my UG. However, you only go to college once, so you might as well go to the best school you can. Plus, we are both young and inexperienced and really have no idea what we truly want to do with our lives. Why, then, would we shut off doors by going to a school that isn’t as well known/as academic? If I want to be an Ibanker/consultant, Wharton will sure as hell make it possible for me to do it. Would Vanderbilt? Prbly not.</p>
<p>Well, I guess it doesn’t really help my argument all that much when I mistakenly read USC as University of Southern Carolina… Guess it doesn’t help that my cousins live in SC and one of my good friends goes there -_- My fault for not realizing S.Cali. lol - Now I guess my post might have made more sense if my context wasn’t completely wrong. </p>
<p>Now the quote that I began my last post by countering:
I would strongly agree with this. Also agree with Rtgrove123’s point that if you end up deciding against medicine, for whatever reason, USC would give you a better chance at succeeding in that.
USC>>SBU. </p>
<p>Sorry again for the confusion on my part, I feel sufficiently dumb (but I actually did think it was s.carolina since my friend lol). </p>
<p>Med school can be VERY expensive…save your money. USC is not worth $120K plus of additional debt, not counting extra expense and inconvenience of coast to coast travel for holidays and breaks.</p>
<p>Significantly impacting your family’s finances/savings for USC makes zero sense especially in this economy. You may have to work harder for the interaction but it can be done. My family practice MD here in Dallas was a Stony Brook undergrad as is one of the top pediatric specialists in the southwest who also lives here. You CAN go to med school after attending SBU…Again, save your family’s money; let them help out with med school if you need it.</p>
<p>Go to a school where you may have a better chance to stand out. Premed classes tend to be large at most top-50 schools anyway. This may be specially true when the school has its associated medical school.</p>
<p>On the other hand, if you think you MAY pursue a career path other than medicine (>50% of aspiring premeds may change their minds during college) and your family really can afford it easily, there may be some benefits going to a college which is strong in many fields.</p>
<p>I am not sure if OP has resolved the financial concerns especially OP is only planning for UG. It seems to me that OP may have some concerns about his college GPA also. I believe that it might be a good idea for OP to assess his/her HS GPA and SAT scores to see if these scores are, at least, 1.0 stddev higher than the averages for USC’s freshmen.</p>
<p>Stony in certain areas are ranked top 10, top 20.
I don’t really see any reason to compare USC with SU when they both offer great biological science programs. In essence, medical school is your final destination. </p>
<p>Unlike engineering, where top 20 programs and top 50 can make a difference. For medical student, either university is great. You just want to spend more bucks in your medical study. I am being serious.</p>
? Do not understand… for med schools, finances are usually one of the most heavily weighted factors for students. 200k+ in debt vs full-ride for the same MD? Unless YOU are paying and not your D? I r confuzd.</p>
<p>For the undergraduate college, unless you get need-based or merit-based scholarship, I think, roughly speaking, there are only two categories of prices: the price of a private school, or that of a public school in your own state.</p>
<p>I wonder the situation is about the same for the pressional schools (e.g., law/medical schools). When I look at medical schools that will take a reasonable number of OOS applicants, most of them are private ones which often charge you an arm for that. It seems to me that, for most professional school applicants, they apply to 1) their IS public or private schools, and 2) OOS private schools. There are a few exceptions, of course. Am I correct on this?</p>
<p>Unlike the colleges where there are still some “social engineering” happening due to whatever reason it may be (fairness, etc.) very few full-ride opportunities exist for medical school students.</p>
I heard of a suggestion that goes like this: If the money is not a concern, go to the “best” school where you are still competitive enough there. On the other hand, you may only need to be the top 30% at one school, but need to be the top 5-10% at another school, in order to be a competitive applicant. Neither road may be easier than the other.</p>